A Moment of Realization
by 2EnigmaticWriter2
Summary: Takes place after Rachel's Bad Ending. One event can lead to something unexpected, as the two have a personal talk to each other. Ragna X Rachel. One Shot.


Somewhere within a forest located in the outskirts of Kagutsuchi, Ragna the Bloodedge, a feared SS-criminal, successfully fled from the area he saved Rachel Alucard. The sky was enveloped in the darkness, signaling that it was already night. It couldn't be a good harbinger of things to come. The place was surrounded with silence, which eased the man's worry about someone abruptly attacking them as they were extremely vulnerable.

Ragna didn't care about that at the moment. Filled with anguish and sadness, he desperately shook the petite girl in his arms hoping she still had life. "Rachel! Rachel! For the love of God, wake the hell up!"

The girl slowly opened her eyes. She could only see Ragna and nothing else. Rachel could feel her body being shook, knowing who was responsible on the act. She let out a faint smile toward him. "As much of a fool as always, I see. I do wonder why I've yet to grow tired of you..."

He was alarmed on what she had said to him. It was never like her to act or speak like this. He knew that only people near their end talked the way she just did. This couldn't be her end! He knew that Rachel would not lose easily to something like a cheap trick! "Shut up! You're not dying on me!"

Rachel's eyes dropped half-closed as her eyes were fixated on him. The girl could not hear what he was trying to say to her, as he watched him yell at her with despair. She was strangely amused yet saddened at the same time. "I know Terumi gave you lessons about intense barking, but you still managed to pull me out from my most boring death..."

The man was caught off guard, perplexed at what he just had heard. "...What?" He decided to keep the swirling feelings inside of him as his eyes gleamed from hope. "Of course I did! You think I could just let you go like that? Who was it that taught me to never give up hope?"

He didn't want to see Rachel die in front of him-no. He didn't want Rachel to die. She couldn't die, not like this! Not in the hands of Terumi. He didn't want that man to be responsible for another death of someone near and dear to him.

Rachel let out a quiet and barely audible sigh. Her lips turned into a disappointed frown. "Ragna... As much as I'm annoyed at your constant barking, I wish I could hear it... before I possibly..."

"Rachel?! Rachel!? Keep those eyes open! I need you here! Come on!" He was starting to panic for the first time in a long time. His heart was beating harder each breathe he took. The only time he ever recalled breathing like this was when his home was destroyed by the hands of Terumi.

The girl let out no response and closed her eyes. Her breathing was very shallow, close to the point of not breathing.

His heart skipped a beat upon seeing her very still. The man's eyes were wide as he stare at the girl in his arms. "No...no...no! NOOOOOO!"

Ragna was on the verge of tears. There was almost nothing he could do to hold it in. He came to terms with the reality that the almighty Rachel Alucard, gone... just like that. No! She was not dead! He was a fool for believing that she will survive, but she still has a chance! "Come on! Snap out of it! Snap out of it! Come on!"

Unknown to him, Rachel was only resting her eyes. She could feel her hearing coming back from her, but it was on a bad timing that she had to endure his screams of anguish. She opened her eyes with haste and gave the man a deep glare, slapping his right cheek in the process. "I take back what I'd said earlier. I rather be deaf than get my delicate ears destroyed."

"What the-?" The man was caught off guard on the sudden jolt of pain on his right cheek. Realizing what had happened, his face turned red as he deeply scowled toward her. "...YOU!"

She realized what had transpired between them. She lowered her head, trying to hide herself from holding her laughter. It was too amusing for her to witness.

Anger soon filled his emotions. "You're a total bitch! You got me scared for the first time since however many years of my life has passed from the last time that happened! The world is almost gone and you pull this shit on me!"

Rachel slapped the same cheek again, but it was soft to stop him from yelling. "You lower your barking for a moment. I admit I was powerless on that time, and honestly thought I would passed away this instant, but it seems that your constant barking had my nerves brought to life. "

She quickly averted her gaze to the side, trying to not let him show what she was actually feeling. How she wished she could hear what he was babbling about as she was about to fall on her near-death experience...

The man quickly recovered and let out an amused smirk. "The mighty Rachel Alucard admitted she was powerless? Now THAT is news to me."

She leered at him in annoyance. "The spell was too powerful to counter. I could not do anything against it but accept my close death."

Ragna scoffed back at her. He knew that the real Rachel he knew all his life would never do something like that. . "Goddamn it, you bitch. You never gave up on anything before in your life."

"I know that, but, I could not do anything. Not even my own magic could match her."

"Then...what are we supposed to do?" He looked up at the night sky. Tomorrow's going to be another long-ass shitty day. Hell, he knew it was possible there wouldn't be a tomorrow to look forward to.

She calmly gazed at his eyes. She needed to be strong for him in this bleak period in time. "I believe you're the only one who could defeat them... with my guidance."

The SS-criminal closed his eyes and let out a long exhale. He opened his eyes and stared at her with a hopeful face. "Rachel... I can't believe I'm going to say this but, I'd rather fight with you against those guys."

Realizing what he had just said to the girl, he asked himself what exactly he was feeling right now. The man would rather have it than just pure fear.

The girl could not believe what he was saying to her. She gave him a leer, thinking this was all false. "Hm? Is my ears damaged from the result of your unnecessary yells?"

Ragna shook his head and raised his hands. "You tell me. If you fight with me, I can make sure I don't have to save your sorry ass again."

She crossed her arms, unfazed at his speech. "Tough words you got in your small mouth."

The man only shot her a dirty glare. The girl slowly realized that Ragna was holding her against him all this time. Her cheeks flushed pink again at the thought of this man doing something to her while she was out cold. "And who gave you permission to hold my unconscious body?"

He stared at him as if nothing was wrong between them. "What? Didn't you know that while you're unconscious I have your implied consent? Also, what does it matter to you anyway?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow, trying to avoid the matter. It really wasn't worth their time at the moment. "Oh? Who allowed you to hold me? And where's Nago and Gii?"

Ragna shrugged his shoulders with a blank stare. "...Uh...I don't know. Maybe you should take care of your toys much better."

She closed her eyelids to ease the incoming stress in her head. "Hmph. I rather not stress myself on their safety."

He looked up with a soft sigh. "Yeah. Especially since the end is near."

"Indeed." The girl uncrossed her arms and shot the man a leer. "If you wouldn't mind repeating yourself, what were you saying as I suffer from temporary deafness?"

His eyes went wide. He could feel his heart being stomped by his wasted effort. "...You mean...you didn't hear it?"

"I did not." Her leer turned into an intimidating glare toward him. "Didn't you heard what I just said earlier? I rather be deaf than hear your yell toward me."

A sly grin formed on his lips. "Ha! I guess I shouldn't tell you then so you can rest your precious ears."

Ragna couldn't help but tease her, even on the most serious of moments. Also, he couldn't pass that particular opportunity up. Rachel's face turned grim, which made the man more amused than before. His goofy look soon faded as he felt a sudden pain all over his body, as the girl gazed at him with demonic eyes.

"Shit!" His brow furrowed toward her. He was thankful that he managed to endure the electric shock.

"Tell me, or I'll teleport back to my castle, leaving you suffering here from hunger and lack of shelter." She fixated her glare toward him, emphasizing her sentence with that look on her face.

Ragna let out a sigh as he try to not let her go with words. "...Come on. You know that you wouldn't do that. Not while I'm the key like you said."

"Hmph. I may be still weak, but I will leave the world without me guiding you." She knew what she said isn't like her but she wouldn't let Ragna get away with quipping her.

There was something that made him not believe her just yet. "You really think so, bunny-leech?"

"Yes. I never say things I do not have the ability to do." The crimson-eyed woman shot back in less than a second.

They both fell silent into a staredown with each other. Ragna was trying to figure out the bugging feeling he was feeling until he slowly realized that Rachel hadn't moved a muscle. He raised an eyebrow toward her. The girl mimicked his action.

A snide smirk surfaced on his lips. "You'd leave me in an instant if you were truly capable of doing so."

Rachel was taken aback at his words. She was flabbergasted at what he said. He didn't take her bait which was a complete first for her. "W-what do you mean?!" She caught herself becoming uncharacteristically unnerved and desperately tried to hide it.

It was too late, though. He already sensed his advantage. Ragna inched his face closer to her, careful not to go too far as his smirk grew wider. "Why are you still here? Why do you put up with me? Why don't you just follow through with what you threaten to do rather than just intimidate me through your shitty words?"

"...I..." The girl was out of words. This was unbelievable, although she found herself more pleasantly surprised than bewildered. . Admitting her defeat, an amused smile was formed on her lips. "Damn. I did not think you were capable of thinking like this."

Ragna chuckled once, delighted to hear something like that out of Rachel, the woman who had his number for a long time when it came to wits. "I did learn from the best."

"From who?" She was genuinely curious about what Ragna could be referring to.

"Master, and..." Before he continue, Ragna carefully placed his left hand on her forehead affectionately. "The bunny in front of me."

Rachel was unable to control her flushing cheeks. She felt so embarrassed that the most colloquial, foul-mouthed man she knew in the world was complimenting her in addition to outwitting her. "I did not even think you will learn something from me, let alone be clever on asking hard-hitting questions at me."

Ragna let out a hearty chuckle. Now that he thought of it, he can't even remember the last time he had fun with Rachel. But it felt good for him, so he wasn't complaining. "Ha... looks like I finally got a one-up on you."

The crimson-eyed woman shook her head, trying to cease her embarrassment and rosy cheeks. "I hate to admit it, but you do." She gazed at him with serious eyes, trying to move the conversation forward. "Now, you would not mind to repeat what you had said to me earlier, would you?"

"Okay..." He softly held her close as a response to her look of intent.

Her cheeks flushed red as she tried to push him away from her. "H-hold it! You're invading my personal privacy!"

In spite of her tiny efforts, the man wouldn't budge as he slightly tightened his hold on her. "I want to make sure you actually hear it this time."

She dropped her arms, sighing in defeat. The girl begrudgingly admitted to herself that she was at his mercy, but she would rather be it an a battle at this point.."I will let it slide." She shot a glare toward him in a feeble attempt to intimidate. "Be thankful I did not unleash electricity through your veins."

Ragna was unfazed as he knew she was bluffing but that didn't matter anymore. His face softened as he fixated his eyes directly at her eyes. "...I don't want to live without you, Rachel."

Rachel was taken aback. Before she could speak, Ragna continued.

"I heard what you said. I'm more interesting than that bastard Terumi? I don't think I'd ever hear you say that and knowing you while you're in that situation, you meant it."

The girl blushed harder. It was true. She did mean it. It was foolish to admit it on her near-final moments, but she was thankful that her words were also heard by the man who she addressed them towards. .

"I don't know why but..." He lowered his head, gathering his courage to not back out on the most unrealistic phrase he was about to say because he never said something like that in his life let alone this woman. "...Those words alone made me strong again and get you out of there."

Rachel averted her gazed as she lowered her head, trying to hide her eyes. "You're only saying that to flatter me."

Ragna cupped her chin to make her look at him again. Her cheeks were deeply red, as she felt herself getting more and more uncomfortable. Without hesitating, Ragna planted a soft kiss on her lips. She let out a surprised gasp as she slapped his cheek out of reflex. The man quickly pulled away as he placed his hand on his sore cheek.

The girl's eyes went wide on the sudden event that has transpired between them. "I-I'm sorry, Ragna!" Realizing what she had just blurted out, she covered her mouth with haste, unable to accept the fact that she apologized for slapping him with a tone of pure regret.

His face was also flustered with embarrassment and disappointment. He raised his hands in front of him as a signal to calm her down. "I'm sorry too, Rachel... Uh, can we, uh, get along a bit better?"

"Ragna, why did you-?" She gazed at him with extreme curiosity.

Rachel was cut off when he gave her a confused look as he shrugged his shoulders. "...Isn't it obvious...?"

She tilted her head to the side. It was obvious she will not take the hint which was odd since Rachel is normally quick to catch on. .

Ragna let out a soft sigh as he began to tell the truth. "It was clear to me once you said that about me. I suspected for years but... now it's clear. It's because you loved me, didn't you?

Rachel gave no answer as she averted her gaze to the side, arms crossed and head down.

The man let out a faint smirk. Bingo. He had her in the spot again. "You were always there for me. You did everything you could to ensure my victories. You even deterred Hakumen from ambushing me once. That's right. I know you did that."

"Ragna..." She returned her gaze at him, a small smile curved on her lips. "...I seriously cannot believe a buffoon like you could tell if I have feelings for you."

He smiled back, happy to hear a compliment for a change. "Hey...I learned from the best."

She let out an amused giggle. "You always never fail to amuse me. You always find a way to deter my boredom away for another time.

Ragna's face flushed red. "...That laugh sounded... cute..." He quickly silenced himself after saying that.

The girl blushed back at him, raising her right eyebrow.

"Um, well..." He scratched the back of his head from embarrassment. "I'm glad you don't feel bored around me Whatever that means."

She shook her head. "You are not a boring individual, Ragna. I never regret spending my time guiding you to do what's best for this damned world."

"Hey, Rachel. When this is over..." He held up his right hand in front of her. "I want you to train me to fight without using this piece of shit."

"When the time comes, Ragna. For now, we have to wait and see if we will have the opportunity." She spoke in her doting voice as she took Ragna's hand.

The two of them stood up, their gaze never broken. A soft breeze blew past them, their hair flew in its direction. A calming night, a quiet place, it was a dream both wanted to have, but it was close to being impossible to reach. Both of them knew that once the sun rises, they have to get this over with but it will be one hell of a ride before they do.

Rachel knew that she would have to properly apologize to the man. Her cheeks flushed pink as she thought of stooping her standards so low for him. "I suppose I have to apologize to you by an action." She spoke softly, her head turned away from him.

Ragna shrugged off his shoulders, confused as to why she was not looking directly at him. "S'okay. You don't have to."

Rachel turned her face to properly look at him. It was now or never. She had to admit it... before it was too late. "Ragna. I know that you laid out the truth behind my actions just to confirm that I had feelings for you, and I must prove it."

He cocked his head to the side, more confused than before. "Okay... how?"

"Ragna... close your eyes." She clenched her fists to steady herself.

The man scowled toward her. He had a feeling this was one of her mischievous antics. "You're not getting me with this trick."

She glared at him, her eyes starting to light up. The girl was having the urge to slap the same cheek she was abusing a while ago. "I am not going to trick you, you lowly dog. Obey, or else I will give you a long, electric massage for your bones."

With her demonic look, minus the fangs, it was enough to convince him that she was really serious. He grunted grumpily. "Cryptic as always..."

Ragna reluctantly closed his eyes, waiting for her to do what she was planning to do to him. As the guy waited, Rachel slowly approached Ragna. She took a small, deep breathe and leaned her face close to him. The man didn't moved a muscle, but his lips were frowning slightly.

Rachel planted a small kiss on the same cheek she kept slapping. Then she reached out her hand to softly stroke his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Ragna, for constantly slapping the same cheek of yours."

The man could feel a soft and soothing sensation on the same cheek. He slowly opened his eyes to see her with an apologetic look. A small smirk appeared on his lips. "Wasn't that your way of saying "I care about you."?"

She crossed her arms and averted her gaze to the side. Rachel can't remember the last time someone made her this flustered. "No, you buffoon. I am merely decreasing my high standard to properly apologize to you."

"Well, I WAS an asshole back then." He admitted out loud as he rolled his eyes.

"Hmph. At least you admitted it."

The two fell silent again, accepting the fate that lies ahead of them. Ragna stared at Rachel, who seemed to have something in mind. "...Things are going to change between us, won't it?"

The girl returned her gaze at him, arms uncrossed. "I could not disagree on that statement."

He continued gazing at her, to the point of creeping the girl out. She raised an eyebrow toward him as she stared at him with a frown. The man slowly approached her with no spoken word. She stayed, waiting for his next action. Ragna gently wrapped her arms around her in silence. The girl's eyes went wide open as her cheeks flushed deep red. Their hearts were beating fast in their embrace.

Ragna gently stroked her hair as he gazed at her. "...I have a new purpose, Rachel..."

"What is your newfound purpose?" She spoke in a gentle tone, her face show genuine curiosity.

The man's lips curved into a smile. "To protect the one I love. The girl standing right in front of me, being held in my arms..."

The girl felt happy at his words, but she chose to keep a stoic look. "I admit that's a better resolve than going on a blind revenge."

He groaned in defeat as he pulled away. He admitted that it was foolish of him back then. "Hey, it's better than having nobody to go back to, right?"

Rachel let out an amused giggle, finding the grouchy Ragna cuter than his normal self. "You are so amusing, Ragna. I doubt I'll grow bored of your company."

Ragna smirked, happy to receive a compliment from her. "Let's go kick their ass, Rachel. I know we can't lose if we fight together."

"Yes. I will help you fight your way through." A playful smirk appeared on her lips. "I admit this will be interesting than sitting on the sidelines."

Ragna slowly leaned his face closer to hers. She noticed the approach and turned her head away, preventing him from kissing her. He grew worried, so he stopped his tracks and returned to his place. The girl didn't moved a bit, and upon closer inspection, her mischievous smirked was still on her face.

Ragna growled angrily toward her. His chance was crippled because of her. "You bitch!"

Rachel could not hold it anymore. She held her stomach as she burst into laughter while watching the man stare at her with a grouchy look.

He heaved out a heavy sigh. "Are you done, Rabbit?"

Rachel didn't answer. Instead, she approached the man and grabbed his collar to pull him to a kiss. Ragna's eyes went wide as Rachel's cheek flushed red. She pulled away, her smirk never diminishing. "And you're a dumb dog who can't even catch."

"You'll take back what you said, bunny-leech... soon!" He roared in response, his finger pointed directly at her. His look, however was insidious that he seemed to have a plan of his own.

With an unfortunate turn of events, the wheel had turned into something unexpected. With the two continuing their journey together, both of them were confident that none of the obstacles they will face will get in their way. As long as they did not get on each other to the point of tearing each other's throat...

No matter how much they piss off each other, deep inside, they search for one's company.

* * *

><p><em>And here's my debut as a new author. I hope you enjoy my lengthy one-shot and not grew bored of it. 'Till next time. <em>


End file.
